12.24.2013

This time of year is significant for
many people. Some recognize the birth of Christ, others the miracle of the lamp
oil, still others the solstice and the return of light.
Light is a common theme - the light of the guiding star, light of hope, light
of God, light of the sun. So too, the restful darkness that lets us appreciate
the light and renew it within ourselves.
It is also a time to appreciate the light of knowledge. A time to celebrate our
ability to light the dark and keep warm in the cold. A time to marvel at our
ancestors observing the skies and knowing the changing seasons.
The finest reminder of the light for me is the Christmas Eve broadcast from
Apollo 8 in 1968. The crew and their craft represented a coalescing of light - the
light of knowledge and ingenuity, the light of bravery and exploration, the
light of faith - in God or scientists and engineers.
The account of creation in Genesis, of the creation from darkness was apt-regardless
of personal belief - as a major part of the Western canon it influences art
even today. And the theme of naming having power and causing things to come
into being is a common one in mythology and can be seen in a way in the voyage
of Apollo 8 itself.President Kennedy
called for the US to send a man to the surface of the moon and bring him back
by the end of the decade. He spoke, millions listened, thousands worked and
created and transformed words into actions and things.

So, on Christmas Eve, I wish you all
well in the restful dark and the returning light and offer you the reading given by Frank Borman and
Jim Lovell and Bill Anders from the depths of space between Earth and Moon on
December 24, 1968.